LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" exploded into movie theaters over the weekend, burning up box office charts with $161 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, distributor Lions Gate Entertainment Corp said on Sunday.

The sequel to 2012 smash hit "The Hunger Games" scored the biggest November opening ever and recorded 2013's second-biggest debut, short of the $174.1 million for superhero sequel "Iron Man 3" in May.

"Catching Fire" stars Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen, the skilled archer who becomes a beacon of hope for an oppressed society. The movies are based on a series of novels by Suzanne Collins.